Steve Farber outside the Denver Art Museum, where the party hosted by his law firm was held Sunday night. Photo by Joanne Davidson, The Denver Post

It must be tough to be Steve Farber, this week especially. As one of those responsible for bringing the Democratic National Convention to Denver, his schedule is daunting, to say the least.
Someone said he has almost 400 commitments during the convention’s run, and he’ll probably make all of them. But even this Energizer Bunny has his limits.
“I was so tired today that I passed out (for a nap) at 4 o’clock,” he admitted as he and law partner Norm Brownstein prepared to welcome about 2,000 of their friends at a “welcome to the DNC” party held Sunday night at the Denver Art Museum.
ProLogis and American Clean Skies were the co-hosts.
Crowded as Farber’s itinerary is, it pales next to that of Gov. Bill Ritter, who also attended the DAM bash. Ritter could only stay for a minute because he was due at Red Rocks Amphitheater to introduce singer Sheryl Crow.
Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron had RSVP’d with a “yes” to the Farber fete; whether she made it was still up in the air at press time. Those who were there: media mogul Ted Turner, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas; Kathleen Brown, sister of former California Gov. Jerry Brown; and such local luminaries as U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, former legislator Tim Wirth; Rosemary Rodriguez, Denver’s former clerk and recorder who is now a member of the Election Assistance Commission; Stephanie Foote, president of the 2008 Roundtable Series; and John Morland, managing director/global communities for ProLogis.
DAM Director Lewis Sharp was there, too, as was former Gov. Bill Owens; Larry Mizel; Tom Strickland; Jeremy Kinney with wife Holly Arnold Kinney, owner of The Fort restaurant; Goldman Sachs vice chairman Bob Hormats; former Denver City Attorney Cole Finegan; Josh Hanfling; Blair and Kristin Richardson; Michael and Shereen Pollak, owners of Hyde Park Jewelers; attorneys David and Patty Powell; Walt and Georgia Imhoff; MDC President David Mandarich and wife, Bonnie; Linda and Dr. Richard Kelley; Barry Hitschfeld; Eula and Janet Adams; Paul Esserman; attorney Hubert Farbes; Dick and Marcia Robinson with daughter and son-in-law Ellen and Mark Schwartz; Rose Community Foundation President Sheila Bugdanowitz; Larry and Julie Gelfond; Susan Kirk; Michael James; Rollie Jordan and Dr. Bill Silvers; Rose Community Foundation’s chief financial officer, Anne Garcia; and National Jewish Health President Michael Salem who, on Wednesday, is having a lunch at his home for U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye of Hawaii.

Pictures taken at the Welcome to the DNC party can be viewed at denverpost.com/seengallery

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com

When she was named Citizen of the Arts for 2008, the Fine Arts Foundation was paying tribute to all that Margaret Cunningham has done to advance, and maintain, such organizations as Opera Colorado, the Colorado Symphony, Rocky Mountain PBS and the Fine Arts Foundation.
But like others before her, this Citizen has many other irons in the fire, and interests that have literally taken her to the ends of the earth.
Next to the arts, adventure travel is her passion. As one friend pointed out: “Margaret may be the only person you know who has been to Muscat, Oman; Ulan Bator, Mongolia; and Samarkand, Uzbekistan.” Her itinerary this year calls for trips to Israel and Antarctica.
Lest anyone think of her as stodgy and uptight, though, consider how a decades-long friendship with Barbara Knight began:
“Our sons were both on the Kent Denver football team,” Knight recalled during the social hour that preceeded the Fine Arts Jubilee where Cunningham accepted her Citizen of the Arts award. “And when we were in the parking lot before one of their games, she opened the trunk of her car and there was a bottle of champagne and two glasses. I knew then and there that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.”
A shared appreciation for the bubbly may have started their friendship, but other common interests caused it to flourish and today Knight and Cunningham remain as close as they were back when they were young mothers raising children.
A native of Bartlesville, Okla., Cunningham earned a bachelor of arts degree in French and history from the University of Oklahoma before moving to Denver in 1964. Here, she raised her two children — Amy and Chris — and immersed herself in the community.
One of her early involvements was with KRMA-Channel 6, one of Denver’s two Public Broadcasting stations. She has been a volunteer on-air personality there for some 20 years and has been a member of both the local and national PBS boards.
In addition, Cunningham has been on the boards of Opera Colorado, the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, Samaritan Institute and Boy Scouts of America Denver Council. She is a past president of the Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation, Colorado Judicial Institute, Sewall Child Development Center, the Symphony Debs and the Fine Arts Foundation.
Nonprofit leaders have long known that when there’s a big job to do, Cunningham is to go-to person. Thus, she has chaired some of Denver’s largest fund-raisers, including the opening of “Aztec: The World of Montezuma” for Denver Museum of Nature and Science; the opening of Denver’s new Central Library; Do At The Zoo; Denver Botanic Gardens’ Fete des Fleurs; and the 1989 Summer Debutante Ball.
That was the year she created the Citizen of the Arts award, with the first recipient being Marlis Smith.
She is currently a board member for the University of Colorado Center for Bioethics and the state Supreme Court’s Judicial Advisory Council.
In addition to being honored at the Fine Arts Jubilee, which was chaired by Janie Prendergast and Claudette Erek, Cunningham will be part of the receiving line this summer at the Fine Arts Debutante Ball.
Her daughter and son-in-law flew in from Wilmington, N.C., where they own several businesses; her son, an attorney in Seattle, also came in to help honor his mother.
In keeping with tradition, the Jubilee showcased young artists affiliated with organizations that the Fine Arts Foundation supports. During cocktail hour, a jazz trio from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music entertained; following dinner, In the Buff, a vocal ensemble from the University of Colorado, performed several songs.
Past recipients of the Citizen of the Arts award who attended the Jubilee included Nancy Stamper, Phyllis and Dr. Gary VanderArk, Charleen Dunn, Liz Frawley, Jean and Dick Watt, and Sherrye Berger.
Among the guests were Erna Butler, Patrice and Gordon Von Stroh, Susan Stiff, Kevin Mynatt and Pat Pearce, representing the Central City Opera; Fine Arts Foundation co-presidents Lynn Hinkle and Jean Watt; Jean and Joe Hodges; Mary and Judge Clifton Flowers; Sue Kinney; Kalleen Malone; Margot and Don Schlup; Kitty and Don Gregg; Gail and Philip Nash; Lucette Larkin; Jane and Jim Wiltshire; D’Wayn and David Stone; Mary McNicholas; Kim and Michael Porter; Kathryn and Garrette Matlock; Lynn and Dr. David Wong; Bertha Haugen; Arlene and Don Johnson; Deb Loftness; and Pam Duke with her daughter, Sara.

Pictures taken at the Fine Arts Jubilee can be seen at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com.

The movie, alas, wasn’t to everyone’s taste, but whether or not you enjoyed “I Am Legend,” you couldn’t help but be happy that Reel Hope: Take 12 netted a half-million dollars for Jewish Family Service of Colorado.
Intense and scary, the sci-fi drama starring Will Smith was the 12th regional premiere that JFS has enjoyed. The Variety Club of Colorado has partnered with JFS for the past several years to ensure that Reel Hope has what promises to be a box office favorite for its signature fund-raiser.
Chaircouples Will and Sheri Gold, Perry and Susie Moss and Dan and Marian Seff worked with ticket committee chairs Sheryl Feiler, Vicki Goldman and Ellen Pollock to see to it that nearly all 870 seats in the United Artists Continental Theatre’s main auditorium were sold. Sponsorships were secured by Steve and Julie Roitman and Francine Topelson.
Guests entering the theater were greeted by Chet Schwartz, chairman of the JFS board, and Bruce Proctor, Schwartz’s counterpart at the Variety Club of Colorado.
Boxed suppers from Millenson Catering were distributed as folks took their seats, and while everyone munched on the kosher meals, master of ceremonies Alan Mayer, chair of the JFS board’s development committee, introduced a video that described programs that JFS offers in the metro Denver area, including the new homecare division, JFS at Home. It offers top-quality, non-medical in-home care that is available 24/7 to seniors and those with medical conditions that would otherwise prohibit them from living in their own homes. The video was the work of Lindsey Gutterman, a member of the JFS board and daughter of it chairman, Chet Schwartz.
The pre-movie festivities also included presentation of two awards. The Jack Shapiro Community Service Award went to Blanca and Howard Lerman while Steve Kris was given the Kal Zeff Business Leader Award.
Blanca Lerman was raised in Thailand and met her husband in Denver in 1982. He was a single father, and shortly after their marriage the family moved to Los Angeles and then Tucson before returning to Denver in 1999.
Howard Lerman, whose father came to the United States as an immigrant from Russia, has degrees in accounting and economics and after working as a certified public accountant he built a successful energy company and then sold it in 1984. A trained architect, Blanca Lerman’s local projects include being part of the design team for the Molly Blank and Michael and Iris Smith buildings at National Jewish Medical and Research Center. She also had a role in two renovation projects at Temple Emanuel. She is on the National Jewish board and teaches English to Russian immigrants.
Steve Kris, who retired in 2001, joined the JFS board at the suggestion of his friend Dan Seff; he has served as treasurer and as a member of the investment committee.
Kris grew up in Denver, is married to Elizabeth and is the father of Kaley and Allison. He enjoys golf and volunteering at the JFS food pantry.
Guests included JFS President/CEO Yana Vishnitsky; therapist Arleen Gershen; the immediate past board chair, Joyce Foster; honorary life chair Joyce Zeff; Marlin and Ed Barad; Norm Brownstein; Bill and Bei-Lee Gold; Elaine Wolf with daughter and son-in-law Sandy and Walt Yearick; David and Mia Berlin; Sharon Whiton Gelt; Judy and Ken Robins; Steve Rosdal; Sheryl and Ken Feiler; Susy Grazi; Gloria and Elliott Husney; Lisa Taussig; Andy Levy; Geri and Meyer Saltzman; Sandy Vinnik; Vicki Trachten-Schwartz; Doug Seserman; and Michel and Elizabeth Seff.

Pictures taken at Reel Hope: Take 12 are posted at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com.

Harry T. Lewis Jr. grew up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, earned an MBA from Dartmouth, served as a leader in the investment world and spearheaded numerous projects that addressed Denver’s growth, planning and future development.
On Nov. 1, Colorado Bright Beginnings honored him for these contributions and more at a dinner held in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom.
“Harry truly understands the value of early childhood development and the
importance of providing parents with support and encouragement to shape
their children’s lives,” observes Kyle Seedorf, vice chair of the Bright Beginnings board. “We are honored that he is helping us get the message out about the power parents have to influence their children’s
future.”
Founded by then-Gov. Roy Romer and the late Brad Butler, a retired chief executive for Procter & Gamble, the nonprofit organization provides Colorado parents with guidance, knowledge and tools to create a bright beginning for their children during the critical first three years of life.
Lewis began his professional life as a certified public accountant with what was then known as Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Later, he became a
general partner and executive committee member at Boettcher & Co., and a senior vice president/Rocky Mountain Region for Dain Bosworth, Inc.
before starting his own firm, Lewis Investments.
Lewis, who is widowed, has had numerous leadership positions with such groups as the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; Downtown Denver, Inc.; the Regional Transportation District; Denver Museum of Nature and Science; and and the Stapleton Redevelopment Foundation.
Lewis also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” was the dinner’s theme, and guests included George and Karyn Sparks (he chairs the Bright Beginnings board and is the chief executive at Denver Museum of Nature and Science); the 2006 honoree, Dr. Dean Prina; Brad Butler’s widow, Erna Butler, an honorary board member; and her daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Tony Accetta. Nancy serves as secretary of the Bright Beginnings board.
Also in the crowd of 400: Caz Matthews, director of Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s WellPoint Foundation; former board chair Dr. Steve Berman and his wife, Elaine, a member of the State Board of Education; Terry Biddinger, director of external relations for the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center School of Nursing; Dan Ritchie, chancellor emeritus of the University of Denver and current leader of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts; Delta Dental of Colorado President Kate Paul; and Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld.
And, state Sen. Chris Romer; the superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, Michael Bennet; Denver City Council members Carol Boigon and Doug Linkhart; Megan Ferland, executive director of the Colorado Children’s Campaign; Elsa Holguin of the Rose Community Foundation; United Way chief Michael Durkin; George Beardsley; Gail Klapper; Trygve and Vicki Myhren; Anna Alejo of the Western Union Foundation; Schenkein co-owner Leanna Clark; 7News anchor Bertha Lynn; Colorado Symphony chairman Cy Harvey and his wife, Lyndia; Wells Fargo Bank senior vice president Pat Cortez; interior designer David Alexander; and Colorado & Co. co-host Mark McIntosh, the evening’s emcee.
Sponsors included Erna Butler, Wells Fargo, Denver Investment
Advisors, CH2MHill, the Piton Foundation, Martha Records and Rich
Rainaldi, Key Bank and the WellPoint Foundation
Bright Beginnings’ programs are free and are provided by 14
regional affiliates that reach all of Colorado’s 64 counties. In
2006, more than 12,000 families benefited from the organization’s work.
For more information about Colorado Bright Beginnings, call 303-433-6200
or visit brightbeginningsco.org.

Pictures taken at the Bright Beginnings gala can be viewed at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

I could make it easy for myself and just list names of the people who weren’t at the Marriott City Center on Saturday night for the High Hopes Tribute Dinner.
But that wouldn’t do now, would it?
Nine hundred, give or take, hauled out the heavy artillery — designer gowns, major jewels, hair and makeup professionally done — to be a part of an elegant and star-studded evening that was chaired by Peter and Cathy Culshaw and raised $750,000 for the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes.
Davis and her late husband, Marvin, as we’ve told you a million times before, started the Carousel Ball 30 years ago when their daughter, Dana, then 7, was diagnosed with diabetes. Twenty-five years ago the family left Denver and moved to Los Angeles so that Marvin, who’d made his fortune in the oil industry, could better oversee his expanding interests. They included show business (he once owned Twentieth Century Fox), real estate and other investments.
They took the Carousel Ball with them — during its Denver years, the ball attracted such as Henry Kissinger and Lucille Ball — renaming it Carousel of Hope and upping the starpower to include not only movie and television figures but presidents and other heads of state.
No other Denver event even came close to the Carousel Ball until the Davises, who have always had a soft spot for their longtime home, started the High Hopes Tribute Dinner. Like the Carousel Ball and Carousel of Hope, it’s a fundraiser for the Barbara Davis Center.
High Hopes has always been good, with entertainment provided by such favorites as Neil Diamond and Bob Newhart. But this year was the best, with Grammy- and Academy Award-winning musician/composer David Foster flying in with such friends as the legendary Smokey Robinson, comedian George Lopez, singer/composer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee to put on a show the likes of which Denver has not seen since the Carousel Ball ended its run in the mid-1980s.
Everyone — from the headliners to the backup singers and boys in the band — donated their services for what must have been a very long day for them. They arrived in Denver around 9 a.m., checked into the Marriott and spent the afternoon rehearsing.
All but Robinson, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms and appeared just long enough to sing two songs, was dressed and ready to party not long after the first guests arrived at 5:30 p.m.
In fact, Lopez’s wife, Ann, proved to be one of the best shoppers in the pre-dinner silent auction. Browsing the Jewels for Hope tables, she spotted a diamond-encrusted owl pin that Barbara Davis had donated for the occasion and snapped it up for the $6,000 asking price.Melly Kinnard, one of the volunteers staffing Jewels for Hope, said Ann Lopez told her she planned to give the VanCleef & Arpels pin to her mother for her 75th birthday.
Katharine McPhee added fuel to the gossip that she has become engaged to longtime beau Nick Cokas, by purchasing the Maui getaway offered for sale in the live auction. Cokas accompanied McPhee to Denver, and fans were wondering if the trip would be used for their honeymoon.

The head table, long and rectangular and situated at the head of the ballroom, was reserved for Davis and the celebrities. They were joined by Davis’ daughter and son-in-law, Nancy Davis and Ken Rickel; Nancy’s son, Jason; and High Hopes Award recipient Steve Farber and his wife, Cindy.
Another celebrity in the crowd was four-time Indy 500 champ Al Unser. There with his wife, Susan, Unser told us he was attending the benefit to honor Dr. Igal Kam of the University of Colorado Hospital, who had performed a life-saving heart transplant on him several years ago.
Earlier Saturday, a ceremony had been held at the hospital to dedicate a new transplant center. Kam is the director, and his position was endowed by the Farber family, in gratitude for the care Steve Farber had received during his own kidney transplant operation in 2004.
Steve Farber has been a member of the Barbara Davis Center board since the start and the Farber and Davis families share a friendship that spans the decades. As Barbara Davis said at the benefit, she and Marvin had been the hosts for Steve and Cindy’s engagement party and had since celebrated many other joyous occasions with them, including the births of children and grandchildren.
Barbara Davis also pointed out that it is fitting to honor one who has had a kidney transplant because kidney problems, sometimes so severe as to necessitate a transplant, are but one complication a diabetic can have.
So who all was there?
From the medical community, Dr. Richard Krugman, dean of the CU School of Medicine; Drs. Peter Chase and George Eisenbarth from the Barbara Davis Center; Dr. Jules Amer, who’d been the Davis family pediatrician; Drs. Georgeanna and William Klingensmith; Dr. Michael Schaffer; and Dr. Richard Abrams, a longtime Barbara Davis Center board member and a co-chair of the High Hopes Tribute Dinner.
From The Guild of the Children’s Diabetes Center: Debbie Gradishar, Connie Pohs, Sally Frerichs, Lisa Corley, Herminia Vigil, Wendy Aiello DeHaven, Suzanne Adler, Gretchen Pope, Georgia Imhoff, Bonita Carson, Helen Hanks, Peggy Crane Epand, Goldie Zerobnick, Sandy Alpert, Adrienne Ruston Fitzgibbons, Margy Epke and Judith Ann Bien, just to name a few.
Also, Steve Farber’s father-in-law, Herb Cook, and his wife, Barbara; his law partner, Norm Brownstein with wife, Sunny; Debbie and Jimmy Lustig; Shelly and Rick Sapkin; Deb and Bill MacMillan; Dana and Chuck Farmer; Lorna and Gerald Gray; Sandy Vinnik; Marsha and Ted Alpert; Alice and Jack Vickers; David McReynolds; Evi and Evan Makovsky; Arlene and Barry Hirschfeld; Ellen Robinson and Mark Schwartz; Diane Huttner; Faye and Wayne Gardenswartz; Josh Hanfling; Sue and Doug Seserman; Jody Epstein and Don Yale; Barby Sidon; Bonnie and David Mandarich; Molly Broeren and Bill Mosher; Robin and Steve Chotin; and Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

Pictures from the High Hopes Tribute Dinner can be seen at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.